Communication systems that include antennas can be deployed in a variety of ways. For example, atop cars, trucks, trains, recreational vehicles (RVs), boats, military vehicles, commercial aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, as part of satellites, or networks. Many communication systems have antennas that are enclosed within a radome.
While radomes are intended to antenna systems, they can also contribute to electromagnetic wave (i.e., electromagnetic radiation) distortion due physical properties of the radome when electromagnetic waves radiate from the antenna through the radome. For example, an electromagnetic wave having a circular polarization can be distorted to an elliptical polarization upon transmission through the radome. In addition, the antenna itself can emit electromagnetic waves of a polarization that differs from the desired polarization, due to, for example, imperfections in the antenna's design and/or construction. Upon transmission through the radome, a further distortion of the electromagnetic waves can occur.
One solution to the distortion is to design the shape of the radome so that distortion does not occur. For communication systems that require a radome having a particular shape, distortion is typically not practically correctable by reshaping the radome. For example, communication systems aboard aircraft typically require the radome to be shaped to maintain the aerodynamic stability of the aircraft.
Therefore, it is desirable to minimize electromagnetic signal distortion due to transmission through a radome without modifying the shape of the radome.